Thursday, July 31, 2008

Taking all my digital images of the headstones of my ancestors and putting them in the scrapbook feature on the family tree maker program. Photos are a wonderful touch to add to the file. Also the wonderful stories people have to tell are amazing as well.

I will travel to New Brunswick shortly to attain more information on some of the linages.

Tuesday, July 29, 2008

Just wanted to thank Mr. Morgan for helping me preserve the cemeteries in Maine by transcribing with me. Also Indiana is trying to ditigalize all of its records so I am transcribing the Mortality Indexes for them.

Compiling a book at the present time of The Johann Diederich Rasche Family of Germany and Benedicta, ME. It will include all of John D. Rush descendants until the present time. Stories, pictures, obituaries, etc.

Monday, July 28, 2008

Just a note to introduce why medical research is so important in genealogy. I was diagnosed with a rare health condition and was told that more than likely it was hereditary. I had no knowlege of it being in the family and all the ones that I spoke to did not either. Thanks to the vital records, photos, etc. I was able to find 3 of my ancestors with the same condition. With that being said, it sure helped me in getting treated and also having others in the family tested as well.

My family always wanted to conceal the family medical history and in some instances that could be a matter of life and death for some. I was not digging into these items to be nosy but I needed information for myself to manage my health. I obtained enough to give to the doctors to start a record of it but thus far my family is still leary about health information going out.

Also for those of you that emailed me in the family about childhood pictures I don't have many. I had to wear braces on my legs from the hips down and couldn't ride my bike without having to take the braces off. I despised wearing those braces for all those years so I would never let the family take pictures of me with them on. I will look around to see if I can find one but I don't think there are any at all. If so they are ones that I don't know about.

Please make sure and document things as later on down the road when you look back you can prove who said it. It is so nice to know who told you this story or a particular piece of information that you can now expand your parimeters. You may want to retrace the steps that they once took either when they first settled there or maybe even a family gathering place that was frequently visited. No matter how small things are there is always a story behind it. Treasure those memories and keep them alive for generations to come.

Things happen over time and people change but don't forget where you came from. No matter where you are now you were brought in the direction for a reason. There are people in your life that assisted you in your endeavors and don't forget them.

No matter what has happened in your family in the past that is all part of where we came from. Not all things are prim and proper but neither is life and we don't judge each other based on what our ancestors did. That is all part of who we are and looking back we can only act on the present.